In spite of examples such as Joan of Arc or Boudicca, the enduring myth in the Western world is that men are the warriors while women stayed meekly at home.

But the belief that women are the peacemakers while men are more likely to be warmongers is not borne out by history, a new study claims.

Research shows records have airbrushed women soldiers out of history as they do not fit the prevailing notion of men as protectors and women as weak.

Milla Jovovich as Joan of Arc in the 2000 film: A
new study claims that the role of women in military combat has been
written out of the annals of history as it does not fit the prevailing notion of women as the weaker sex

Many examples exist of women who fought as bravely as their male counterparts, but they have not achieved the recognition they deserve, claims Professor Montserrat Huguet of the Carlos III University of Madrid.

'War is learned, as are so many other trades, and gender is irrelevant here,' she explained.

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Her research found women have always been present in wars, both ancient and contemporary, but have been generally portrayed as victims of war.

If they have had an active role, they had often been seen as far from the frontline serving in the rear as ambulance drivers, nurses, prostitutes or spies such as Charlotte Grey.

But history books have often ignored the contribution women soldiers made in actual fighting.

Professor Huguet said although military commanders understood women were equal to male soldiers, often they were not deployed because of fears it might be seen as a sign of weakness, or if they did their contribution played down.

Ready for action: An Israeli woman soldier, left, prepares for a training session near Jerusalem in 2007. Right, An Afghan woman soldier stands guard as officials prepare to burn seven
tons of heroin near Kabul in 2004

A woman soldier poses with her gun during a
rally in a stadium in Freetown, Sierra Leone: Women have usually been presented as the victims of war, or as supporting men
from behind the lines or on the 'home front'

For example during the American Civil War women impersonated men to take up arms but Professor Huguet said 'the military authorities were perplexed and avoided recording these women's activities in the camp registers, thus extending the cloak of silence, which later resulted in a lack of data when history was being written.

'Fortunately, the expansion of archive sources has allowed us to gradually reconstruct the paths and activities of women at war.'

On many occasions, the professor claims, women were the ones who incited and promoted armed conflicts, as the rise of nationalist movements during the 19th century demonstrates.

The enduring symbol of this era is that of Marianne, the national emblem of France who representing liberty and reason as she leads the people into battle.

Although men tried to keep women away from the fighting, they also associated women with the feminine ideal of the homeland, conceiving them as mothers of heroes and champions of the nation.

'They became what I like to call heroes for around the house,' said Professor Huguet.

Symbol of the revolution: Marianne, the national emblem of France, is pictured leading a charge in the painting Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix, which hangs in the Louvre

Women's support of pacificism, particularly during the 20th century's two World Wars, allowed the myth of the meek feminine to endure. Yet the study found as women's pacifism grew, 'militaristic feminism' grew at the same pace.

WOMEN IN MODERN DAY COMBAT

Although most Western armies began to admit women into active military service in the Seventies, the role of women in combat remains controversial.

In 2011 and 2012, the U.S. Defence Department began looking at loosening its near-universal ban on women serving in direct positions of combat, including ground combat.

One regularly offered objection to putting women on the front line is that the female skeletal system is less dense and prone to breakages.

It is also argued that women's general lower body strength and aerobic capacity makes them less suited to fighting.

In aviation, there was also the concern that women could not handle increased g-forces as well as men. Subsequent research found, however, that the reverse is true.

'Why would all women be linked to an anti-military opinion when there was a large segment of women who sought access to the various military branches under conditions equal to those enjoyed by men?' asked Professor Huguet.

The study noted during the Spanish Civil war in the Thirties women fought for the Republican side. '[I]n the middle of the social revolution, encouraged by egalitarian ideology, they volunteered for combat, in battalions and militias,' said Professor Huguet.

However in 1936 a decree was issued banishing them from the battlefield. Yet despite the ban some women stood shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts.

'In spite of being prohibited from participating in combat, some women, like Rosario Sánchez Mora (Dinamintera) and Aida Lafuente (known as Libertaria, Niní or Nina) did not accept being moved away from the front; these women, undaunted, faced the same risks as the men they fought with,' said Professor Huguet.

Professor Huguet said: 'In Spain, in spite of the fact that international history is already an extensively studied field, with excellent results, there are areas that have not been given the attention they deserve.

'Such is the case of women and their presence in and contributions to the international history of conflicts, negotiations and peace.

'It is essential to establish the scientific foundations of women's participation in the historical construction of the culture, considering not only their social activism, but their activity in defence of their countries.'